Kavery Nambisan belongs to a rare breed of writers – the doctor who writes fiction. She is a general surgeon – a domain where women are uncommon. Another uncommon thing about her career is that she is a rural doctor, having practised for the most part of her career in rural India. She has published seven critically acclaimed novels. "A Luxury Called Health: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Art, the Science and the Trickery of Medicine". A Luxury Called Health is her first book-length foray into non-fiction.

This book is not easy to classify. At one level, it has strong elements of the memoir but it also contains social commentary, history, and feminist critique. She writes in moving detail about her late husband, the poet Vijay Nambisan’s battle with cancer and her unnerving experience with the hubris endemic in the medical profession. She also talks about her experience in treating hundreds of patients with Ivermectin, the drug’s remarkable efficacy against COVID-19, and why it hasn’t been more front and centre in the battle against the pandemic. A common thread running through the book is a desire to engage with fundamental questions about health, sickness and medical treatment. She speaks to The Hindu about her book, what prompted her to write it, and her concerns about the medical profession today.

Guest: Kavery Nambisan

Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Edited by: Reenu Cyriac